Sage's POV
Sage Riverstone shot through the palace water pipes like a silver bullet.
Her heart pounded as she raced through the narrow channels that carried water to every room in the Night Palace. She had never used her magic to travel this fast before, but desperate times called for crazy plans.
Please let this work, she thought as she approached the pipe that led to Luna's prison room.
For three days, Sage had watched her best friend waste away behind that golden door. Luna barely ate, hardly slept, and kept staring at her wrist where the purple chain flickered weakly. Whatever connection she had with the Day Realm prince was fading, and it was killing her slowly.
Sage couldn't stand it anymore.
She burst out of the water pipe in Luna's bathroom, landing on the floor with a splash that soaked everything nearby.
"Sage!" Luna jumped up from her bed, her eyes wide with surprise and hope. "How did you get in here?"
"Water pipes," Sage said, wringing out her long hair. "I've been planning this for days. We're getting you out of here."
"We?" Luna asked.
"Me and a friend from the Day Realm," Sage replied, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "Her name is Zara. She's Sunny's best friend, and she's just as worried about him as I am about you."
Luna's face lit up. "You met someone from the Day Realm? How?"
"Long story. The important thing is we have a plan." Sage grabbed Luna's hands. "Are you ready to trust me with your life?"
Luna didn't hesitate. "Always."
But before Sage could explain the plan, voices echoed from the hallway outside Luna's room.
"The princess hasn't eaten again today," Captain Starweaver was saying to someone. "Queen Celeste is getting more worried by the hour."
"Maybe separating her from the Day Realm prince was the wrong choice," replied another guard. "She's getting weaker every day."
Sage and Luna froze, listening to the guards discuss Luna's condition like she was a sick animal instead of a person.
"Orders are orders," Captain Starweaver said firmly. "The princess stays locked up until the royal advisors figure out what to do about this prophecy mess."
The footsteps faded as the guards continued their patrol, but Sage could see tears in Luna's eyes.
"They're talking about me like I'm already dead," Luna whispered.
"That's exactly why we're leaving," Sage said fiercely. "Tonight. Right now."
She pulled a small mirror from her pocket - not a regular mirror, but one enchanted to connect with its twin. Zara had the other half, and they had been using them to coordinate their rescue plan.
"Zara?" Sage whispered to the mirror.
The surface shimmered, and suddenly they could see into Sunny's prison room in the Day Palace. Zara was there, her wild hair tied back and her face determined.
"Is everything ready on your end?" Sage asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Zara replied. "Sunny's been practicing weakening the magic locks on his door. One good wind blast should break them completely."
"Perfect. Luna, are you ready to run for your life?"
Luna nodded, though Sage could see her hands shaking. "What about the guards?"
"Leave them to me," Sage said with more confidence than she felt. "I've got enough water magic stored up to flood half the palace if I need to."
Through the mirror, they could see Sunny pacing nervously in his room. He looked as tired and worried as Luna did, with dark circles under his eyes and his golden hair messy from stress.
"On the count of three," Zara said, raising her hands as wind began to swirl around her fingers. "One..."
Sage gathered water from the pipes in the walls, feeling the magic flow through her like a river. "Two..."
Luna stepped back from the door, her own magic flickering weakly around her hands.
"Three!"
Everything happened at once.
Zara's wind magic exploded outward, shattering the magical locks on Sunny's door like they were made of glass. At the same time, Sage sent a massive wave of water crashing against Luna's door, freezing it solid and then shattering the ice with a sound like thunder.
Both doors burst open simultaneously.
"Go, go, go!" Sage shouted, grabbing Luna's hand and pulling her toward the window.
But their plan immediately started falling apart.
Alarms began ringing throughout both palaces as magical sensors detected the prison breaks. In the Day Realm, Zara and Sunny were already running down the hallway, but palace guards were pouring in from every direction.
"This way!" Zara yelled to Sunny, using her wind magic to knock down guards who tried to block their path.
In the Night Palace, Sage and Luna faced their own problems. Captain Starweaver appeared at the end of the hallway with a dozen guards, all carrying weapons that gleamed with magic.
"Princess Luna!" he shouted. "Stop this madness immediately!"
"Not a chance!" Sage shot back, sending a wall of water rushing toward the guards.
She and Luna ran in the opposite direction, their bare feet slapping against the crystal floors. Behind them, Sage could hear the guards shouting orders and chasing after them.
"The meeting room!" Luna gasped as they ran. "There's a window that opens to the gardens!"
They burst into the royal meeting room, but Sage's heart sank when she saw more guards waiting for them by the window. They were trapped.
Through the magic mirror still clutched in Sage's hand, they could see that Zara and Sunny were in the same situation. Palace guards surrounded them in the Day Realm's main hallway, cutting off every escape route.
"Surrender now, and we'll go easy on you," Captain Starweaver said as he entered the meeting room with his sword drawn.
Sage looked at Luna, then at the mirror showing their friends trapped in the Day Palace. Their rescue plan had failed completely.
But Sage Riverstone had never given up on anything in her life, and she wasn't about to start now.
"Luna," she whispered, "how much magic do you have left?"
"Not much," Luna admitted. "The bond with Sunny is so weak, I can barely cast simple spells."
"It doesn't matter. We're going to try something crazy."
Sage raised her hands, calling on every drop of water magic she possessed. Not just from the palace pipes, but from the gardens, the fountains, even the moisture in the air.
"What are you doing?" Captain Starweaver demanded.
"Something my best friend taught me," Sage replied with a grin. "Never give up, even when everything seems hopeless."
She unleashed all her magic at once.
Water exploded from every pipe in the palace simultaneously. Fountains erupted like geysers, and rain began falling inside the building as Sage pulled moisture from the very air. Within seconds, the entire Night Palace was flooding.
Guards slipped and slid as water rushed around their feet. Magical weapons short-circuited and died. And in the chaos, Sage grabbed Luna's hand and dove toward the window.
They burst through the glass in a shower of water and crystal, tumbling onto the palace gardens below. Through the mirror, Sage saw that Zara had tried the same desperate trick with her wind magic, creating a tornado inside the Day Palace that sent guards flying in all directions.
For a moment, it looked like their crazy plan might actually work.
But as Sage and Luna picked themselves up from the garden, soaking wet and covered in scratches, Captain Starweaver's voice boomed across the palace grounds.
"Surround the gardens! Don't let them reach the border!"
Sage's heart sank as she saw dozens of guards pouring out of the palace, all carrying nets made of magical energy. And through the mirror, she could see that Zara and Sunny were facing the same overwhelming odds.
"We tried," Luna said sadly, watching the guards close in around them.
"We're not done yet," Sage replied, but even she could hear the defeat in her own voice.
The magical nets fell over them like spider webs, draining their magic and making it impossible to move. Sage struggled against the enchanted ropes, but it was no use.
They had been so close to freedom. So close to reuniting Luna and Sunny and maybe saving both their realms.
Instead, they were all prisoners now.
And as the guards dragged her and Luna back toward the palace, Sage realized with growing horror that their failed rescue attempt had made everything infinitely worse.